AuthorTopic: are there any URMs that think AA is TOO helpful in admissions process? (Read 15918 times)

faith2005

hmm, i think that the discussion is interesting. t-bone, the point of logic i understand, but the relationship that you drew between gangsta rap etc. and hip-hop culture i definitely don't agree with. i still say that poverty is tied to race. if it weren't the numbers wouldn't be disproportional. and i also think that aa and other programs could be expanded and that would aid the redistribution of wealth in this country.

sleepy guy--i'm down for poor people coming together, i just haven't seen it happen in my neighborhoods. im from the midwest, and even though now the unions are dying, in the recent past (like my father's generation), black folks were just being allowed into the unions, so the history of cooperation would have to begin with my generation in my opinion. and i know that i won't be included in that organizing, once i have a law degree, but i'd like to see it happen.

alamss--i have heard about aa like programs in india and malaysia to aid people who were adversely affected by the caste system. And I disagree when you say that the south asians are homogenous racially. i have seen issues of color first hand in the south asian community, and its based on the ideal of the European standard of beauty. i have south asian friends who are considerably darker than i am, and those who are lighter. this doesn't exactly pertain to aa, but it does relate to the psychological effects of oppression etc. just something i thought about when reading your posts.

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Alamss

Skin color does not have anything to do with anthropological racial designation. People of all races compose of light, medium and dark, still India or Pakistan are still overwhelmingly homogenous racially.

Alamss said:"What you achieve does not have at all much to do with racial affiliation but rather it is CULTURE that seperates the major achievers, achievers, slight achievers, and not so high achievers."

Alamss,I agree with much of what you said in your post. But let me ask you this. I believe that historic social factors like slavery, Apartheid, or winning/loseing a war effect a culture. Do you agree?

I just want to throw in that while other groups of people have also experienced oppression, genocide and enslavement, if people from that group are not underrepresented in US law schools (based on the population of that group in the US) then law school AA for them is not relevant. Why? Because AA is an inappropriate tool to make up/make reparations for oppression. I don't think it should be considered a solution to that problem. But it can mitigate the effects of that oppression by addressing a proportional imbalance in specific situations, if such an imbalance exists.

SillyMia

I wish I could remember the study that went full circle as to why people can't get out of impoverished areas.

It has to do with lack of transportation for the better jobs. Lack of money going into the school systems. People are immersed with people just like them and don't know any better.

Now, personally, I've always tried to make the argument FOR these people (my friends, seriously) that they don't know how to get out of it and that it's not that easy. However, I got out of it despite it not being easy. I searched around for how to get a higher education and just started taking a full load of classes despite working graveyard shifts 40 hours a week and retail another 20. I'm not sure I can make that argument anymore as much as I try - BUT, I understand it.

Take it for what it's worth, from somebody who was raised in the hollywood/echo park area and graduated high school not knowing how to do simple fractions and majored in business economics and now has her own business (and regular job - can't get away from the long hours, I suppose).

Just don't undermine how difficult it is or how all somebody needs is a pencil and paper to learn.

Ang, you kinda proved my point for me. Yes, it is difficult if not impossible to move out of the ghetto on $7/hr as a single parent. That's why you don't become a single parent while still living in the ghetto. That's a critical life error, and no doubt is a huge factor in why people struggle to move out of the ghetto. Use birth protection or keep your legs closed until you can afford it.As for what educators and professionals think you need to succeed...please. Think back on your education. What did you need besides a few books and some pencils and paper and a teacher? It doesn't take much to be educated well enough to go to college besides the desire to learn, and the effort required to study instead of shoot hoops and play video games. Mia is her own example. It's really hard to argue about all of these factors that keep people down when it's pretty obvious that if you have the WILL, you can do it. The reality is that people either put themselves in impossible situations by having kids or doing drugs, and then they don't have the ability to save their money to move up in the world. Most of these things are problems with them, and not society keeping them down through racism. Racism didn't get you pregnant and smoking crack.